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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 16, No. 39
Fire call load still a challenge
Homecoming smiles
F
reedom High School’s Faith McLeod and Avery White were named this year’s homecoming king and queen. The school’s football team also came away with laurels, winning the homecoming game against San Leandro at 48-20, moving them to 4-0. To view a slideshow of homecoming events, www. thepress.net/ multimedia/ slideshows.
by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
East Contra Costa Fire Protection District’s addition of a fourth station in July improved August’s response times, but the district still struggled with its call load. Average response time in August was 7 minutes, 55 seconds – down from 8 minutes, 21 seconds in July – but there were still 2 hours and 48 minutes when all engines were tied up and unavailable for calls. “Four times during this last month, if someone were to call 911, there were no local (firefighters) that were going to show up,” said Fire Board President Joel Bryant. Although district officials don’t know how many calls came in during that period, only known CPR calls garnered mutual-aid responses from neighboring Con-
September 23, 2016
Honoring A Cowboy
Jack Roddy set to be presented with the prestigous Ben Johnson Memorial Award. Page 4
Plan For Your Next Getaway
Photo by Steve Nosanchuk
see Fire page 34
Enjoy the last days of summer with these fun locations just a short drive away. Page 13
Open us up Family awarded judgment On A Winning for the Best in vehicle-fatality case Streak of Oakley by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
This year’s Best ReAdeRs’ ChoiCe of Oakley magazine AwARds will be folded into 16 20 2016 this week’s issue of The Oakley Press. Inside, you’ll find hundreds of categories describing the best places to get your car fixed, find a meal for under $10 or take a visitor to show off your hometown. Who are the snappiest pizza delivery guys, who’s a reliable accountant, and where should you go to get those pearly whites polished? You’ll find the answers here. If you don’t receive your magazine bundled with your weekly Press delivery, call 925-634-1441 or stop by our office at 248 Oak St., in downtown Brentwood. the 9th AnnuAl
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8/30/16 1:25 PM
Three years after 12-year-old Burgess Hu was struck and killed by an SUV on his way to Excelsior Middle School in Bryon, the California State Superior Court has awarded his family a $1.25 million judgment. The ruling, which was entered on May 16, was made against Brandy Woolman, the driver of the vehicle. The judgment also stipulates that Burgess was without fault in his own death. “We can’t bring people back, but this is a step toward closure for the dad, and that’s an important one,” said Scott Sumner, Hu’s attorney. “It’s closer to justice and (the judgment) certainly backs up what was important to the father. In particular, that Burgess didn’t cause his own death and that the driver was responsible.” No criminal charges were ever filed against Woolman in the incident, and her automobile insurance company paid the judgment. Attempts to reach out to Woolman for comment on this story were not returned at press time.
On Sept. 23, 2013, Burgess, a seventh grader at Excelsior Middle School, was hit by Woolman’s SUV around 8 a.m. According to the CHP report, Woolman, who had a child at the school, was coming out of the northbound exit of the school, paused to look left for traffic before preceding to make a right turn out of the school. As she accelerated, she said she felt a ‘bump.’ After going 50 or 60 feet, according to the report, she stopped the car, got out and realized she had hit Burgess, who had been dragged under the chassis of the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene. However, according to Sumner, and based on witness reports and subsequent depositions, Burgess was riding on the shoulder of the roadway, not the road itself prior to being hit, and was likely still alive at the time he was initially struck. Witnesses reported that after Woolman hit Burgess, she stopped for approximately 40 seconds, but did not get out of her car before she began to move again. According to a witsee Judgment page 34
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Disaster tax relief extensions and domestic violence shelter funding help victims.
Falcons’ big plays notch a 48-20 homecoming victory over San Leandro. Page 23 Calendar................................33 Classifieds.............................28 Cop Logs................................32 Entertainment.....................11 Food........................................10 Health & Beauty..................16 Milestones............................27 Opinion..................................22 Pets.........................................17 Sports.....................................23
AB 326
go to news/press releases Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed Assemblymember Frazier’s AB 326 into law.